Alfie was referred to the Youth Adventure Trust in 2020 by his school because they wanted us to help him build confidence and self-esteem. Living with autism, Alfie often found social interactions challenging and his teachers knew that on our Programme he would be able to meet new people and make new friends in a supportive environment.
Alfie embraced every challenge on the Adventure Programme, making the most of the experience, overcoming fears and fully participating in every opportunity. However, his autism meant that he still struggled to make friends. Consequently Scott, Alfie’s Programme Manager who had supported him throughout his YAT journey, referred Alfie onto our Mentoring Programme. We hoped this 1:1 tailored approach would allow Alfie to continue building on his achievements within his community.
During the summer holidays, Alfie and his family met with the Mentoring Manager to explore how mentoring could support him further. He hoped it would boost his self-esteem, help him become more social and encourage him to ‘get out more’. To tailor our support effectively, we created a Communication Passport, helping Alfie to share his strengths, the things he finds difficult, how a mentor might be able to tell if he’s struggling, how best to communicate and any triggers. The Mentoring Manager also spent time talking to Alfie’s Dad, who also has autism, to help allay his fears about Alfie being away from the family home.
Alfie was matched with his volunteer, Iris, and although he was initially unsure in their first session together, he soon relaxed and connected with her over their shared love of computers and coding. Their sessions soon became something that Alfie looked forward to and they enjoyed getting to know each other over board games, bowling, visiting local nature spots and even building Lego robots.
Just a few months into the programme, Alfie shared how the experience had already helped him:
I like having the experience of being 1:1 and having someone to speak to. Generally she’s just got me more social because she was a complete unknown person to me and I’ve just got along really well with her. I mean I’m starting to meet a few new people and I’m getting along with people much better.
His mother also noticed a transformation:
I think Alfie is really enjoying it and he’s really coming out of his shell. We’re starting to see glimmers of hope, and Alfie back to being his normal self again and growing up to being a man. He doesn’t seem to be so worried and stressed as much any more. He’s getting some friends, getting a nice little social life and has been going out with them outside of school; something he wouldn’t have been able to do a few months ago.
As the year progressed, Alfie and Iris explored even more activities, from visiting an aviation museum to tackling a pirate-themed escape room. Alongside these experiences, their mentoring sessions provided a safe space for Alfie to talk about his day to day life, sharing any worries or challenges he was facing and allowing Iris to offer him some strategies for navigating friendships and social situations. Alfie’s openness with Iris was truly remarkable and his ability to articulate difficult feelings was equally impressive. This enabled Iris, with the support of the Mentoring Manager, to offer specific support around areas of worry for Alfie, such as healthy relationships.
Midway through the programme, Alfie reflected:
You’ve actually helped me get friends at school for once. That’s a very big change for me. Having you guys help me create friendships is great. Basically seeing people care about me is nice. I mean outside my family because my family always care about me but seeing people outside my family care about me is really nice. You’re just naturally fixing everything, I don’t even have to ask you.
Alfie’s Mum added:
He’s definitely got more self-esteem, definitely coming into himself more. Going out in public – he didn’t like going out before but you’ve shown him that there’s a lot more out there in the big wide world. He’s definitely a lot more confident.
One of Alfie’s personal goals was to learn to ride a bike, a skill he felt would give him more independence. Alfie’s parents were keen but also anxious about Alfie’s safety. So, we arranged for Iris to take him to an introductory bike lesson with an instructor. Alfie made excellent progress in a short amount of time, and so we arranged for Alfie to have some more lessons and he soon passed his Level 1 and 2 Bikeability courses. This achievement was a huge milestone in his journey toward greater freedom and self-reliance.
At his final review, Alfie shared:
Iris has helped me with my social skills, generally being in a much happier mood and getting on better with my sister. Iris has helped me to talk to people more because my social skills have been dreadful throughout my life – I cannot get on with people. So having Iris around who’s been willing to do stuff with me makes me more comfortable talking to other people and that means I get along with people much better now. You’ve done your job perfectly! First of all she’s willing to listen to all the random junk that I talk about and listen to my horrendous coding experiences. You’ve been an absolute joy to be with!
Alfie’s Dad also shared his appreciation:
He’s got somebody who he can just go and talk to which is important. He can speak about any worries because sometimes it’s hard to talk to your parents. Some of the things he might want to talk about might be sensitive so having an adult he can trust is quite a rare commodity to have.
Now focusing on his studies and planning for university, Alfie continues to grow. Alfie has expressed an interest in continuing with cycling lessons and we are in the process of supporting Alfie via our Bursary Programme with funding for further lessons, a bike and cycling equipment.
We are hugely proud of all that Alfie has achieved in his time with us and the personal development he has shown from the Adventure Programme through to the end of his mentoring year, and look forward to hearing about his next adventures beyond the Youth Adventure Trust.
